Allison Merkle’s upbeat attitude has helped her excel in four years at BU, and has helped keep the women’s soccer team optimistic despite some tough times.
It’s hard to miss the smile.
She scores a goal, she’s all smiles.
She takes a volleyed shot off the head from close range, she shakes it off, and she’s smiling.
She misses a crucial goal, and she’s fuming … but give her 10 minutes, the smile is back.
For Allison Merkle, the late Willie Stargell’s old saying never seems too far away:
“They say play ball, not work ball.”
“My parents have always said ‘you need to have fun with the game’,” Merkle said. “That’s when I play my best, when I have fun.”
And to even a casual observer, Merkle usually appears to be having fun while still managing to play with intensity.
Locked in a tight game against crosstown rival Boston College this year, a BC player’s clearing volley smacked the senior captain in the face, but she quickly gathered herself and let loose a big grin.
Merkle is nearing the end of a journey that started 16 years ago in a small town outside of Baltimore.
Merkle started playing recreational league soccer at five because she wanted to, as she puts it, “be like my brother.” Four years her senior, her brother Jeff first exposed her to the game that has become a huge part of her life.
At a young age, Merkle showed her dedication to her pastime, making a choice that she sees know as a pretty good one.
“I did other things like dance, and when I was eight or 10, my mom said I had to choose, so I picked soccer, and I think that was the best for me.”
Since then, Merkle has steadily progressed up the ranks, going from travel to being a four-year starter in high school to starting all but three games due to injury since arriving in Boston. Merkle has been an indispensable player to BU for more than just skill reasons though, and her coach values those reasons immensely.
“She came in having a really good sense of the game and the way it’s played,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “She’s got a coach’s brain in a lot of ways.
“She’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached.”
In addition to her soccer smarts, Merkle has provided a young team 14 of BU’s 24 players are freshmen or sophomores with valuable leadership during a tough season that has seen the Terriers suffer through a 1-7 stretch on their way to a 5-9-1 record (2-2-0 America East).
Although the losing has grated on both player and coach, both have taken lessons away from the adversity.
“We haven’t been pulling off the wins, but it’s been interesting to see the character of the team,” Merkle said. “Before when we were winning, it was easy to stay cohesive, but now, with little rough patches, different people are stepping up and it shows what being a team is all about.”
“It’s really easy when things are going great to rally the troops, but what really starts to show up is who really comes to the forefront when other people are down and the tide is not going your way,” Feldman said. “She has done that and it’s critical to a team’s success.”
Merkle’s ability to leave losses on the field is integral to a team that is trying to overcome inexperience and a tough schedule. Minutes after mis-hitting a short volley that could have tied the score for BU against Harvard University, Merkle was still fuming. But it only took her a little while to poke fun at herself, saying that the headline the next day should just be, “Merkle Chokes.”
While she never pretends to enjoy losing, Merkle knows the football attitude that the game is a war, or the football (Euro-style) attitude that the game is life are to be taken for what they are, cliched statements that make games more important than they should be. It’s this attitude that allows Merkle to be unworried about the imminent end to her college soccer career.
“I know it’s going to end,” Merkle said. “In a way I’ve prepared myself for it. I’ve had a great experience. As far as this season goes, it’s going to be great, but when it’s over, I think I’m ready for that next phase.
“I’m going to miss it, I know that, but I’ll be able to find somewhere to play where I can just have fun.”
But before that end comes, Merkle has unfinished business to tend to on the pitch. As two-time defending conference champs, BU has a lot to live up to, and the schedule this year has reflected that, with the Terriers playing some tough non-conference opponents. So naturally, Merkle would rather have played a few cupcakes so BU wouldn’t have such a lopsided-in-a-bad-way record, right? Not quite, and with her reasoning, it’s easy to see why Feldman thinks her stalwart senior has a “coach’s brain.”
“I’d rather have the challenge than the easy wins,” Merkle said. “College is still a lot of development, and you’re only going to develop by playing harder and harder teams.”
While soccer has been good to Merkle, it hasn’t been all kicks and giggles. Every time Merkle challenges someone for a header, or goes in hard to tackle the ball away, she is risking herself in a way that’s usually only related to football and hockey. Merkle has a history of concussions, and she knows that there’s always a chance of another brain bruise, but yet she still doesn’t shy away from the physical contact she uses to be effective on the field. Not only is Merkle unwilling to let concussions keep her from playing her game, and she can even look at the situation with a little bit of humor.
“You’re reminded of it every time you get hit in the head or head the ball wrong, but it’s kind of normal now, it’s just something that you fight through,” Merkle said, and added with a laugh. “Coach started ragging on me and yelled at some people ‘you’ve to start winning some headballs, because Merkle’s gonna be 30 and she’s not going to be able to answer the phone cause she can’t speak.'”
But still, the prospect of a head injury is frightening just ask the Lindros brothers or Troy Aikman and Feldman said she worries a bit any time she sees Merkle take a hard knock. But overall, the coach knows that she doesn’t need to worry about Merkle taking the punishment, but other teams need to worry about Merkle giving the punishment.
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As a senior captain, Merkle’s duties go far beyond playing a solid midfield, and it is clear that she has taken them to heart, especially when dealing with her younger teammates.
“Looking at the freshmen, I’m like, ‘you guys have three more years,'” Merkle said with a hint of jealousy. “If you look at this season it can be a little discouraging, because we’re not doing as well as we hoped, and it’s not an ideal freshman year. We’re trying to instill in them that they’re going to develop and get used to each other and they’re going to make a big impact on this team.”
For Merkle, the time she first stepped into the hustling Hub of the Universe was more than a little overwhelming.
“I had a rough freshman year,” Merkle said. “I went to a small high school and it was outside the city, and to come to BU … I’m tight with my family, and I missed them, but to be in Boston, and you have so many people and it’s so diverse.”
That routine has enabled Merkle to enjoy her years at BU, and has earned her the respect of her teammates and her coach, something that, with the obviously close bond she has with both sets, is the thing she takes most pride in accomplishing, and is the thing she will miss most.
“Coming to BU and playing her, the team is the best thing,” Merkle said without hesitation. “I have friends who went to other colleges, and we talk about our teams, and it seems like there’s not that tightness the bond that we have. It’s great to have that group of people that you know you can count on and hang out with.”